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Since the end of the Cold War, and especially in the last decade, the armed forces have undergone profound organizational and cultural transformations. Anthony King's research has been able to make a notable contribution to this process. Through critical sociological analysis, he has: enhanced the British army's socio-political grasp of key contemporary theatres of operation; informed the education and training of high-ranking officers; and stimulated debates about defence policy. He has also developed close relationships with the armed forces and the defence policy communities, as well as communicating his expertise to a wider audience through various media appearances. In sum, King's work on and with the armed forces has had an impact in three key areas: influencing the execution of military operations; shaping military training and education; informing public policy debate.
Key questions face Western military establishments and governments concerning the likely form of future defence needs and, consequently, the size and shape of their armed forces. Following dashed hopes of a long-term `peace dividend' after the collapse of the USSR, came recognition that defence remained a fundamental concern, but that military needs might be manifested in different ways. The debate about a `war on terrorism' post-9/11 further intensified questions about the nature of future conflict. Through his research on strategy, and his guiding role in the Oxford "Changing Character of War" programme, Sir Hew Strachan, Chichele Professor of the History of War (since 2002), has made a major contribution to these debates and has helped to shape military policy making in the UK and the USA.
Research by staff in the Centre for War Studies at the University of Birmingham, has informed continuing professional development (CPD) and training in the Armed Forces in the UK and overseas. This includes the design and delivery of training, study tours and materials for chaplains and NATO senior officers. Additionally academics have facilitated access to research to stimulate policy debate in the Armed Forces through invited presentations to professional conferences, and nationally and internationally by informing the content of Select Committee expert evidence.
This case study focuses on the impact of the body of research produced by various members of the UoA's Military Ethics Education Network (MEEN). This impact has been achieved through two main routes. The first comprises the impact of MEEN research on the teaching of ethics education in military and war colleges in Europe, North America, Australia and Israel. The second comprises the inclusion of explicit ethical considerations in training and pre-deployment briefings within the armed forces of the relevant countries. These forms of impact have been achieved both through publications and also through direct dissemination of ideas. The publications have formed the explicit basis of discussion at specially-organised targeted conferences and other teaching events and are used widely in the curricula of military ethics courses in military academies internationally.
Professor Richard Overy's research on key issues of air power history and theory has influenced how both UK and International air forces consider key areas of air power history and their application to current issues of air power doctrine and development. This has been achieved by contributing to the air forces continuing professional development through seminars and lectures to service audiences, participation in RAF history teaching evaluation, publication of key texts on air power issues used in service academies and regular engagement with academic and non-academic audiences on air power history.
Building on the academic research of staff and post-graduates, the `Walberswick Project' began as a local study, emerging from the general interest in landscape fostered in the UEA School of History by Professor Tom Williamson, and more specifically from Dr Robert Liddiard's expertise in medieval fortifications and their physical setting. Such expertise was here refocused on what had previously been the almost totally neglected Second World War anti-invasion landscapes of East Anglia. The realization that an entire world of landscape archaeology was ripe for rediscovery, and that what was true of Suffolk was no less true of the 'Atlantic Wall', stretching from Norway to Spain, has led via the project's website to the delivery of high-quality academic research to organisations charged with managing European heritage. The computer technology developed here has fed into further projects that now span the English Channel and several periods of history. Successful bids for European Union and National Heritage Lottery funding have ensured impact that is international in scope, with results disseminated via websites, print publications and other media to the very widest of constituencies.
Over the last decade, understanding the character of war in Afghanistan has been of unparalleled importance to the British and U.S. armed forces and to their respective governments. Dr Rob Johnson, military historian and Director of The Oxford Changing Character of War Programme since 2012, has become a key participant in the process of preparing British officers serving in Afghanistan, and in developing senior commanders' understanding of the army's role in this conflict and the options for military transition. His book, articles, presentations and direct engagement in debate have been cited by military practitioners as a vital corrective to their thinking, and have done much to dispel stereotypical views and misunderstandings of Afghanistan and its past.
This case study, centring on the work of Dr Harry Bennett, Reader in Military History, demonstrates impact generated out of very wide-ranging research on twentieth-century military and naval history and aspects of government policy over a period of about 20 years. The case reports on the impact of research on naval strategy and operations, including that on the role of the German Schnellboote in World War II, achieved in relation to three key areas: the economic gains from naval heritage, public policy concerning naval heritage, and public engagement with and discourse about these matters, extending from think-tanks to very broad exposure in the media.
The research involved the first uncensored documentation of the contemporary UK military pathway and has been used internationally to raise awareness in professional participants and the general public of the ethical and practical complexities of militarised healthcare.
The impact of this research was evidenced within three distinct> territories: 1. Informing improvements in military and civilian training leading to the creation of standard briefing materials for British deployed forces, medics and civilians to ensure early awareness of the `care pathway'; 2. Establishing additional reference points within contemporary art discourse and reflecting on the role of independent observers of conflict; and 3. Aiding patient recovery and understanding by helping individuals reconcile the profound change that they have undergone through injury and by establishing precedents for a format of comprehensive patient diaries, enabling longer-term understanding of traumatic experience.
Professor Roberts' research insights into the changing character of conflict and the laws of war have informed national and international policy. They have shaped (i) initiatives to reform US and UK military training, official manuals and directives on the laws of war; (ii) improvements to UK detention policies and practices; (iii) the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee's conclusion that the UK's aims in Afghanistan should be re-focussed; (iv) the International Red Cross' view of the legal issues affecting their role in contemporary forms of occupation; and (v) UN assessments of the legal standing of UN forces in particular deployments.